TED Community » Rashaad Abu-Hamdan

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Understanding of cultures and avoiding the stereotypes of the world, having an open mind to learn and to explore, and learning about the different dynamics of the world.

My TED Story

Came back from a lecture by Aubrey DeGrey here at Madison, and really enjoyed it. I wanted to know more about the topic so I searched his name and found a number of sites. Of them I stumbled across TED and have been somewhat addicted to it's content and ideas ever since.

Comments

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• +2

  A comment on Talk: Michael Norton: How to buy happiness

  Mar 30 2013: I feel there's a disconnect in looking at the overall correlation between happiness and giving made in this talk. I would rather argue that happy people are more likely to give, not that giving necessarily triggers happiness. For example, I'm much more likely to pick up a friends tab if I'm feeling happy,
  
  Now this of course doesn't mean that you can't be happier by giving. I can admit that I've felt happy in giving to others and providing opportunities, but that sense of happiness doesn't come from the act of giving itself but rather by the gratuity received from those you give to. Like if I were to give money to a political party I probably wouldn't be much happier; but if I made someones day in buying them a thoughtful present I potentially would. I won't dwell on this for too long, I hope you get my point.
  
  I'd recommend Brene Browns talk on vulnerability to compliment Michael Nortons. Go here:
  http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html

• A comment on Talk: Bruno Maisonnier: Dance, tiny robots!

  Feb 27 2013: This absolutely blew me away! Imagine the potential?? I spent far too much time today reading about the business plan and future of robotics. This is definitely inspiring. I want one NAO!
  
  Robots web page:
  http://www.aldebaran-robotics.com/en/
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Solving gun violence in the US in today's insane political climate requires a solution that makes it painless for everyone.

  Jan 29 2013: I'm personally against every trigger happy person having guns. I could ramble on with my personal conclusions, but I feel like Jon Stewart captures most things with quite an entertaining take on things. Seriously, watch this! You'll get educated and have a few laughs.
  
  Check this link: http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/wed-january-16-2013-jessica-chastain
  
  I honestly admire the ability of the gun industry beneficiaries to strategize and implement policies to undermine the governance of the industry. It's an impressive undertaking, one that I'd love to see some ambition law student write a paper on.
• +2

  A reply on Conversation: Solving gun violence in the US in today's insane political climate requires a solution that makes it painless for everyone.

  Jan 29 2013: Do you really think American civilians would have been able to stand up to Hitler if they were armed with guns? I'm pretty sure they wouldn't stand a chance, let alone against the American military. With that said, we should encourage people to start keeping tanks and bazookas in their garage so that if an "evil man" were to come into power, armed citizenry can save the world!!
  
  Don't be silly.

• A comment on Talk: Dan Pink: The puzzle of motivation

  Mar 16 2011: This talk is one of many talking about the downside of having direct financial benefits for performance, but I'm still not to convinced in its application in the long run. Working in construction, I find that giving bonuses to the workers has a great effect on small no-brainer tasks, and ends up pretty much exactly as it is explained in this talk.
  On the flipside I can't imagine not having benefits or such on the long run, in places where it takes aspiration, ambition, and time. I'm not saying that people only aspire to things with financial benefits, but it does play a role in how an individual plans his or her life. We may, as people, get caught with the reward or get anxious on a short term basis but require some kind of light at the end of the tunnel in order to plan and move forward. I find this matter being used by businesses more and more to not issue out bonuses or raises and is being taken for granted in some ways. I'm curious about how it realy works out in the long run.